Crimped wire tubing for purposes of support



March 22, 1960 G. JOSEPHSON CRIMPED WIRE TUBING FOR PURPOSES OF SUPPORT Flied Jan. 2. 1958 w m E v m ATTORNEYS yn-J United StatesPateri't' O 7' CRIMPED WIRE TUBING FOR PURPOSES F SUPPORT Gilbert Josephson, White Plains, N.Y.

Application January 2, 1958, Serial No. 706,772

3 Claims. (Cl. 211-60) This invention relates to a device for holding and supporting articles which is general have elongated portions, such as pencils, flower stems and the like, and to the method of making same.

This invention has for its principal object the provision of a crimped wire tubing for purposes of support- Another object of the invention is'to provide a holding device fashioned from a length of crimped wire tubing.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a supporting device, capable of supporting a large number and variety of articles.

Yet another object of the invention is the provision of a method for making crimped wire walled tubing.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more fully understood from the following description considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.

In the drawings which illustrate the best mode presently contemplated of carrying out the invention.

Fig. 1 is a front view of a flower pot with a supporting device shown therein;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along lines 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view showing a mechanism for forming undulated wire;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary front view of a mandrel showing wire walled tubing being formed thereon;

Fig. 4A is a cross sectional view of oval shaped tubing;

Fig. 4B is a cross sectional view of keystone shaped tubing;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a length of spirally wound undulated wire showing articles supported therein;

Fig. 6 is an end view of the spiral tubing showing a suporting means formed therefrom; and

Fig. 7 is a perspective view, of another adaptation of the supporting device.

Referring to Fig. 5 there is represented a perspective view of a length of crimped wire tubing 10. Tubing 10 comprises a coil of spirally wound wire 12 which wire 12 has folds formed as undulations. The undulations define a peripheral wall of tubing 10. It will be noted in Fig. 5 that in the construction of tube 10, the peaks of the undulations on adjacent windings 14 of the coil are aligned to confront each other to define apertures 16 in the wall of tubing 10. For suporting flowers 17 and the like, the flower stems 18, for example are inserted in diametrically opposing apertures 16 in tubing 10. In this manner there is provided a two point support for the stems 18. As seen in Fig. 5, tubing 10 is adapted to support flowers 17 in substantially any position on the surface thereof. It is clear that the stems 18 are prevented from moving laterally by edges of the respective apertures. This latter feature of construction is best illustrated in Fig. 5. While construction in which the peaks of the undulations are confronting each other provides the most efiicient support structure, it is recognized taht tubing 10 is easily deformed so that the alignment of the peaks is destroyed. It is also recognized that tubing 10 may be made without attempting to align the peaks of the undulations. In either case tubing 10 provides an excellent suport means and this invention is not intended to be limited to the preferred construction. The diameter of tubing 10 and the gauge of wire used in its formation as well as the spacing between adjacent cycles of undulations, as represented by the dash lines in Fig. 3, is best determined by the articles to be supported thereby.

Referring to Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings there is represented therein the steps of one method for making a spirally wound undulated wire tubing 10.

Pursuant to the method, a continuous'length of wire 12' is passed between a pair of gear like members 20 and 22, having teeth shaped to form wire 12 into an undulated wire 12 best seen in Fig. 3. The undulated wire 12 is then wound around a cylindrical mandrel 24 to provide a continuous length of spirally wound wire walled tubing 10. The undulations are positioned parallel to the axis of said tubing 10 to define the peripheral wall thereof.

The cylindrical spiral construction is presented for illustrative purposes and not by way of limitation. It is obvious that tubing 10 may have any uniform cross section, oval and keystone, for example as represented in Figs. 4A and 4B. Tubing 10 may be also be made in finite lengths having a tapered surface.

Tube 10 is extremely flexible and easily formed into a variety of configurations, or shapes one construction best seen in Figs. 1 and 2, a length of tubing 10 is formed in a spirally wound configuration 25 and inserted in a flower pot 26 for supportingflowers 17. The stems 18 of flowers 17 are inserted through the several windings 27 of configuration 25 and supported at a plurality of points along the length thereof. The stems 18 are supported in each winding 27 by the undulations constituted in tubing 10 as best seen in Fig. 2.

Supporting means or legs 32 may be formed on the bottom surface of configuration 25, to raise said configuration off the bottom surface of the flower pot 26. More specifically, a plurality of undulations, of the type represented in Fig. 3, may be twisted transversely to the plane of said undulations to define projections which extend downwardly from the bottom surface of configuration 25 to form said feet 32. In Fig. 6 there is represented a section view of tubing 10 showing a leg 32 formed in the manner just described.

Referring now to Fig. 7 of the drawings there is represented therein a second construction of a supporting device utilizing a length of undulated wire tubing 10. As seen in Fig. 7 tube 10 is formed into a decorative configuration, said configuration being adaptable for insertion in shallow vessels or as a self contained supporting device for short flowers or pencils and the like. The supporting device generally indicated by the numeral 36 comprises a holder portion 40 and a base 42. The holder portion 40 includes a horizontal annular section 44 and a section 46 mounted at right angles thereto in a vertical plane. Annular section 44 of holder portion 40 is fashioned from a length of tubing 10 and the bottom surface thereof is pressed into a moldable plastic material, such as clay, the plastic material forming base 42. In the alternative annular section 44 may be placed on the surface of molten metal, such as lead. The metal is solidified securing holder postion 40 thereto and the metal comprises a base 42 of the support means 36. In Fig. 7 supporting device 36 is shown illustrating a desk top supporting device for pencils and pens 48 and the like.

Although I have herein shown and described several forms of the present invention it will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.

1. Means for supporting articles of the type having a longitudinally extending part, comprising a coil of wire having a plurality of windings which 'colle'ctivelyfdefine a wire walled tubular member, at least some portion of said windings having undulations forming the tubular wall of said tubular member, said undulations defining a plurality of apertures at the peripheral wall of said member adapted to receive said longitudinally extending parts and adapted to prevent any substantial lateral movement 7 of the latter. V

2. Means for supporting articles of the type having a longitudinally extending part, comprising a coil of wire having a plurality of windings which collectively define a wire walled tubular member, at leastsome portion of said windings having undulations forming the tubular wall of 'said tubular member, said undulations defining ja'plu- 'r'ality of apertures at the peripheral wall of 'Said'me'tnber adapted to receive said longitudinally extending parts and adapted to prevent .any substantial lateral movement of the latter, said tubular member being spirally wound;

3. Means for supporting articles of'the type having a longitudinally extending part, comprising a coil of wire g 3 Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent'is:

a plurality oi windings which collectively define a wire walled tubular member, at least'some portion of said windings having undulations forming the tubular wall of said tubular member, said undulations defining a plurality of. apertures at the peripheral wall of said memberadapted torreceive said longitudinally extending parts and adapted to prevent any substantial lateral movement of the latter, saidtubular member being substantially circular in cross-section.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 910,891 Atwood Jan. 26, 1909 1,780,061 Bluff Oct; 28, 1930 2,045,023 Reid l'. June 23, 1936 2,325,483 Davis July 27, 1943 2 ,680,284 Markowski' June 8 1954 2,724,176 White NOV. 22, 1955 7 FOREIGN PATENTS 185,878 Germany ..-..t. 1901 

